This document sets out the Government's response to the Committee's report (HCP 468, session 2006-07, ISBN 9780215035820) into equality issues, including the establishment of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the introduction of the Equality Bill, the priorities of the Minister for Women, the Equalities Review and the Equalities Public Service Agreement.
This document sets out the Government's aims for the forthcoming Equality Bill. A substantial body of equality legislation has been introduced over the last four decades, but the legislation has become complex and hard to understand. The Equality Bill will declutter and strengthen the law. The Bill will introduce a new Equality Duty on the public sector, replacing the three existing duties on race, disability and gender and extending to gender reassignment, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief. The Bill will contain powers to outlaw unjustifiable age discrimination, but there will be further consultation on the design of the legislation before the new legal protections are introduced. Transparency is essential to tackling discrimination, and public bodies will have to comply with the Equality Duty over gender pay, ethnic minority employment and disability employment. The Government will work with business to improve transparency in the private sector. The Bill will extend the scope of positive action so that employers can take account, when selecting between two equally qualified candidates, under-representation of disadvantaged groups. Permission to use women-only shortlists for parliamentary candidates will be extended to 2030. Non-legislative measures to increase the number of ethnic minority elected representatives in Parliament and local councils will be pursued. Finally the Bill will aim to strengthen enforcement. Tribunals will be allowed to make wider recommendations in discrimination cases, which will go beyond benefitting the individual taking the case so that there are benefits for the rest of the workforce of the employer found to have discriminated. A more comprehensive paper on the content of the Bill will be published shortly.
The Committee welcomes the Government's intentions to simplify and streamline legislation on discrimination into one single Equality Bill. But it believes that disability discrimination requires a difference in approach and should be predicated on the idea that we need to treat people differently to accord disabled people equal opportunities. The challenge is to bring disability discrimination law within that broad family of equality law whilst recognising those key differences. To meet this objective, the Government should re-establish the version of disability-related discrimination that existed before the recent Lewisham v Malcolm judgment and which was well understood by employers and employees alike. Preserving strong disability rights needs to go hand in hand with an adequate defence for those with duties under the legislation. Harmonising the different provisions that currently permit employers, service providers, landlords and others to justify disability discrimination in certain circumstances will ensure a balance between their responsibilities and the rights of the disabled person. The Committee also calls for removal of one of the greatest obstacles to improving employment opportunities for older people: the continued existence of the statutory default retirement age in the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. The overall employment rate of disabled people has increased since 1995, but the rate for people with mental illness, phobias or panic has remained substantially lower (at just over 10 per cent) than that for those with most other types of impairment. Too many employers and disabled people are unaware of what support is available for them through the Access to Work scheme. DWP research identified recruitment as the most common source of discrimination against disabled people but few cases reach court. The public sector has an important role to play in promoting equality but needs to focus on outcomes not process.
This report examines the events leading to the qualified audit opinion on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's 2006-08 accounts and on the continuing weaknesses in the Commission's controls. The Commission took up its new powers, and those of the former Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission (the Legacy Commissions), on 1 October 2007. Serious errors were made in setting up the Commission, not helped by three changes of sponsor department in the months immediately before its launch. The Commission now accepts that it was not ready for business when the doors opened on 1 October 2007 and that its set-up process, which cost £39 million, was flawed and inefficient: it did not have in place sufficient senior staff, a transition strategy, business strategy, organisation design or job descriptions. Skills gaps were filled by bringing back former employees of the CRE as consultants, even though they had all received severance payments. The Treasury, which should have been consulted about these appointments, did not grant approval retrospectively as the Commission could not prove that the re-engagements gave good value for money. This expenditure was therefore deemed irregular and the Comptroller and Auditor General issued a qualified opinion on the Commission's 2006-08 accounts. This is not the way that the Public Accounts Committee expects public bodies to be run. Strong controls need to be in place to ensure that such errors do not recur.
This document sets out the Government's aims for the forthcoming Equality Bill. A substantial body of equality legislation has been introduced over the last four decades, but the legislation has become complex and hard to understand. The Equality Bill will declutter and strengthen the law. The Bill will introduce a new Equality Duty on the public sector, replacing the three existing duties on race, disability and gender and extending to gender reassignment, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief. The Bill will contain powers to outlaw unjustifiable age discrimination, but there will be further consultation on the design of the legislation before the new legal protections are introduced. Transparency is essential to tackling discrimination, and public bodies will have to comply with the Equality Duty over gender pay, ethnic minority employment and disability employment. The Government will work with business to improve transparency in the private sector. The Bill will extend the scope of positive action so that employers can take account, when selecting between two equally qualified candidates, under-representation of disadvantaged groups. Permission to use women-only shortlists for parliamentary candidates will be extended to 2030. Non-legislative measures to increase the number of ethnic minority elected representatives in Parliament and local councils will be pursued. Finally the Bill will aim to strengthen enforcement. Tribunals will be allowed to make wider recommendations in discrimination cases, which will go beyond benefitting the individual taking the case so that there are benefits for the rest of the workforce of the employer found to have discriminated. A more comprehensive paper on the content of the Bill will be published shortly.
This report (Cm. 7455, ISBN 9780101745529) sets out the Government's progress against the Ministers for Women priorities, as set out in July 2007. The priorities concerned the following areas: (1) supporting women and families who are caring for children and elderly relatives; (2) tackling violence against women and changing the way women offenders are treated; (3) increasing the representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic women. The report also outlines activity which the Ministers for Women and Equality and Ministerial colleagues intend to make a reality before the end of the current Parliament. For the original report, Priorities for the Ministers for Women, see (Cm. 7183, ISBN 9780101718325).
Supply estimates are the means by which the Government seeks from Parliament sufficient funds and parliamentary authority for the bulk of departmental expenditure each year. In the course of the year the Government may need to ask Parliament for additional resources and/or cash. This volume contains 32 supplementary estimates and one new estimate.
This is the latest in a series of reports to the Joint Committee on Human Rights setting out the Government's position on the implementation of adverse human rights judgments from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the domestic courts. It covers the period 1 August 2012 to 31 July 2013. The main focus of this paper is on two particular types of human rights judgments: judgments of the ECtHR in Strasbourg against the United Kingdom under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); and declarations of incompatibility by United Kingdom courts under section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998. A feature of these judgments is that their implementation may require changes to legislation,4 policy or practice, or a combination thereof
In its report of last year on the Communities and Local Government's Departmental Annual Report 2007 (HC 170, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215037978) the Committee commented on the particular nature of the Department's work: on its unusual reliance for the achievement of the goals Government has set it on a plethora of other Departments, agencies, non-departmental bodies, local authorities and other stakeholders; on the long, devolved delivery chains by which those goals therefore have to be delivered; and on the skills of influence, brokering and negotiation which are required to achieve them. In this Report the Committee assesses the progress made since last. The most recent Cabinet Office Capability Review concludes that there has been a positive "direction of travel" for CLG in that period, but the Committee concludes that there is still some way to go before CLG can be said to be performing at the highest achievable level of effectiveness. The Department's overall performance against its Public Service Agreement targets is likewise moving in the right direction but still short of full effectiveness. Achievement of efficiency targets is applauded. Finally, the report considers examples of particular policies which highlight some of the Department's strengths and weaknesses, and follow up some issues in earlier inquiries. These issues include: eco-towns; the Decent Homes programme; Home Information Packs; Fire Service response times; Firebuy; the FiReControl programme. The report also considers the Department's response to the serious flooding of summer 2007, and to the reviews which followed; and the mismanagement of European Regional Development Fund monies.
This is the 10th Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report on human rights. Publishing just a few weeks after the FCO's new strategic framework and mission statement this report shows how human rights will remain fully integrated with the their four new policy goals. These goals cover: counter-terrorism, weapons proliferation & their causes; promotion of a low-carbon, high-growth global economy; prevention & resolution of conflict and development of effective international institutions, particularly the UN & EU. The report also covers human rights in the overseas territories & of British nationals abroad; and key human rights themes including equality, democracy & rule of law. It also gives indepth reports on 25 countries of particular concern, setting out the main human rights problems and how they have been, and will continue to be, addressed.
According to the report The Implications For Access To Justice Of The Government's Proposals To Reform Judicial Review HC (868), the number of judicial reviews has remained remarkably steady when the increase in the number of immigration judicial reviews (now handled by the Upper Tribunal) is disregarded. The report covers: procedural defects and substantive outcomes; legal aid for judicial review cases; interveners and costs; capping of costs (protective costs orders); alternatives to the Government's judicial review reforms; judicial review and the public sector equality duty.
A consultation response to Building a Society for All Ages (Cm 7655) published in July 2009, which was a strategy paper addressing the problems and potential of the demographic changes consequent on the increasing longevity of the population.
In this response to the Justice Committee following their inquiry into female offenders, the Ministry of Justice sets out plans to establish an open unit at HMP Styal and test this approach, set up community employment regimes across the estate to improve more women's access to jobs for their release, and create strategic hubs in order to improve closeness to home in certain regions. In addition to this, for the first time, all women will receive support through-the-gate and 12 months supervision on release as part of the Transforming rehabilitation reforms. NOMS' Stocktake of Community Services for Female Offenders shows that the spread and availability of community services specifically for women has been increasing. This sets the groundwork for the expansion of community support to women on release from short-sentences in 2014 and beyond. Efforts to divert women from custody where it is appropriate to do so also continue. The Ministry is also introducing legislation through the Offender Rehabilitation Bill to ensure that the Secretary of State enters into contracts with probation providers that identify and consider the particular needs of female offenders. To this end guidance is being issued so that probation providers fully understand the particular needs of female offenders and how to meet those needs.
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